Canadiens: Montembeault Gets The Job Done

The Montreal Canadiens played with fire tonight against the Nashville Predators, but they had a fireman in net as Samuel Montembeault got his third shutout of the season with a 3-0 win.

The Montreal Canadiens were welcoming the Nashville Predators tonight at the Bell Center. Roman Josi's team had taken on the Toronto Maple Leafs last night losing 3-2 and they did look like a tired team early on. 

The Canadiens dominated the first frame in shots 12-6 and were oftentimes first on pucks. The first line, once again formed of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Alex Newhook seemed too fast for the visitors and linked up quite well. At one stage, the captain pulled off a spin move to avoid the opponents' defensemen that had the Bell Centre buzzing. 

Perhaps it had something to do with the first two being left off their respective national team and the last one hearing his coach say "he expected a bit more from him" when asked about his season so far, who knows, for tonight, we'll call them the chip on their shoulder line.

The game's first goal didn't come from them though, the Predators were on the power play when Jonathan Marchessault turned the puck over to Jake Evans. The center turned on the jets and took flight for the offensive zone. He stopped just long enough to avoid Josi's coverage and beat Justus Annunen, who was starting his first game with Nashville, with a well-placed shot.

Montreal finished the first on the power play but was unable to find the back of the net for a second time, saving just under a minute of man advantage for the second frame. 

The power play had all kind of trouble getting into the offensive zone to start the middle frame and couldn't even muster s shot. Nashville however was much more menacing and Samuel Montembeault had to make a few big saves to keep his team in front. Being named to the Team Canada roster really agrees with him. 

He was particularly impressive during a minor penalty to David Savard who came out of a box to get a breakaway, which isn't exactly the gritty defender's forte and he placed his shot too high. Had there been a rebound, the Canadiens may very well have scored. 

Justin Barron, who hadn't played since David Jiricek was traded but replaced an ill Kaiden Guhle tonight, got the best scoring chance when Laine spotted him all alone in front of the net, but Annunen made a big save.

The wheels fell off the wagon for the Predators in the last couple of minutes, they took two ill advised penalty, providing the Canadiens with a double man-advantage for 1:23 to start the third period. While Montreal hadn't scored while being two-man up since Dec. 3, 2022, they didn't miss that opportunity. 

For a second game in a row, it was Patrik Laine who found the back of the net on the power play. With a lot of time and space, he picked his spot and sent a filthy wrister straight to the top corner, giving Annunen no chance whatsoever.

Up 2-0 the Canadiens kind of took their foot off the pedal, and started hurting themselves be taking silly penalties. In his post game presser, Martin St-Louis talked of a tale of two games and it really was. Had it not been for the fine work of the penalty killer and of Montembeault, Joel Armia wouldn't have had an opportunity to score than empty net goal which pushed the final score to 3-0. 

Now that Mike Matheson is no longer on the first wave of the power play, the coach is glad to be able to use him more on the penalty kill and adds he feels good when his two veterans are out there. Tonight, the alternate captain played just short of nine minutes down a man and had a very good game. 

In the faceoff circle, Christian Dvorak was a machine, winning 73% of his draws, Suzuki came in second with  62% success rate, closely followed by Jake Evans at 60%. As for Dach, he couldn't do better than 40%. 

Overall, the defense corps had a good match as well, Jayden Struble landed five hits while Arber Xhekaj had three. Lane Hutson, only played 16:36 tonight, seeing his ice time impacted by all the penalty killing, but he still managed to keep his point-streak going, thanks to another assist on the Laine goal. 

Finally, Evans was once again a forced to be reckoned with. Not only did he score the first goal of the game, but he also found a way to breakaway in the third on a penalty kill. The way he reads the game and processes what's happening in front of him is nothing short of remarkable, and if the Canadiens are willing to sell at the deadline, he could bring a surprising return. 

Montreal has now won its last two games and will enjoy a day off tomorrow before getting back down to business on Saturday when they'll host the Washington Capitals. 

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